


To Trick a Conman

by Sasusquatch



Category: Mob Psycho 100
Genre: BEYOND awkward interactions, I got secondhand embarrassment from writing this, Other, aspec reigen, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 23:05:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17476670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasusquatch/pseuds/Sasusquatch
Summary: "You’d never been particularly superstitious, though you also didn’t exactly deny the existence of ghosts and spirits either.  They were simply a phenomenon that bothered other people, never you.  And they certainly didn’t show up regularly enough for there to be entire tv shows dedicated to exorcisms.  But here you were, watching a real psychic exorcise a ghost for you.  Well, one of them was a real psychic, at least."Quick oneshot about the reader trying to get Reigen to admit that he's not actually a psychic.





	To Trick a Conman

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! It came to my attention that the fandom is pretty thirsty for Reigen/Reader content so I decided to try my hand at writing for the sweaty conman. This is just a oneshot, but it's really to judge the amount of interest there is! I have some ideas for a longer work, but I don't wanna launch into it until I know if there's an audience for it. So until then, enjoy!

You watched in awe as Mob exorcised the spirit with a simple wave of his hand.  Curiously enough, the spirit hadn’t even been human, it had been a cat.  At least that explained why your own cat had been so freaked out for the past few days.  You’d never been particularly superstitious, though you also didn’t exactly deny the existence of ghosts and spirits either.  They were simply a phenomenon that bothered other people, never you.  And they certainly didn’t show up regularly enough for there to be entire tv shows dedicated to exorcisms.  But here you were, watching a real psychic exorcise a ghost for you.  Well, one of them was a real psychic, at least.  You cast your glance to the other adult in the room, a young man named Reigen Arataka, who ran the Spirits and Such Consultation Office.  He’d seemed very confident when you’d walked into his office earlier that day, but you were pretty skeptical.  He talked an awful lot, and most of what came out implied that he wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about.

            But hey, you’d been desperate to make your apartment livable again.  Your cat had been running around like a madman for the past week and it was obvious that the problem wasn’t just typical cat antics. 

            “Master, I really don’t think you needed my help for this…” Mob started speaking, jolting you from your thoughts, “It was just a cat spirit, couldn’t you have taken care of it by yourself?”

            Reigen looked slightly unnerved, and you felt your eyes narrow.  “Of course I could have, Mob, but you need to keep practicing, you know?”  He cast a glance at you, and his worry only seemed to increase when he saw your face.

            “Hmm, yeah.”  Mob looked thoughtful.  “It just seems like you haven’t been doing very much lately.”

            _This kid is being used_ , was the thought that flashed through your mind.  You managed a tight smile and decided to interject into the conversation.  “How much do you get paid, Mob?”

            The noises Reigen started making would’ve been at home in a horror movie.  He recovered fairly quickly though and turned to Mob.  “Hey!  It’s already starting to get late, you should probably head home now, don’t you think?”

            “I guess so, if you don’t need me anymore.”

            “Good!  Here’s your pay.”  Reigen stepped forward and shoved some money into Mob’s hand, though you couldn’t see exactly how much.  He also glanced back at you to make sure that you were watching. 

            _Oh he’s **so** suspicious._

After Mob put his money into his pocket he waved to you and left, a faint smile on his face.  You waved back, smiling in turn.  But as soon as he was out of earshot you turned to Reigen, facial expression much less pleasant.  “So, are you really a psychic?  Or are you just using that kid to make a quick buck?”

            To his credit, Reigen faced you head on, and only started sweating a moderate amount.  “Of course I’m a real psychic.  I’ve been running this business for longer than Mob’s been around.”

            “Doesn’t mean that you _aren’t_ a fraud.”

            To say that Reigen looked nervous would’ve been an understatement.  However, you knew good and well that there wasn’t very much you could do in the present situation, so you simply sighed.  “Well, either way, the ghost is gone.  Is there anything else you need to do to make sure it stays gone or…?”

            Reigen regained his composure as you changed the subject.  “Not this time, no.  It was just a weak spirit, so you shouldn’t have anymore problems.”  Now he just looked downright pleased with himself.  “You paid in advance, so I suppose I’ll be on my way now.”

            “Right, thanks.”

            “Of course.  Don’t forget to tell your friends about us!”

            But you barely heard his parting words, your brain was already working on a little scheme.  Maybe right _now_ you couldn’t prove that he was a fake, but if you kept at it, eventually he’d slip up and you’d officially be able to call him out on his bs.  All you needed were some made-up excuses.

            ***

            The next time you contacted The Spirits and Such Consultation Office it was to claim that the cat spirit had been skulking around again.  This was, of course, a lie.  But what better way to prove that Reigen was a fraud by having him all worked up over the spirit only for it not to exist?  Unfortunately for you, Reigen already seemed to realize that this time _you_ were the one full of shit.  He showed up to your apartment, smug grin already in place, and asked you for the details.

            “Well, uh, it’s only every once in awhile but-“

            “Uh huh.”

            “It kinda just… knocks things off of the shelves and sits in my favorite chair.”  You really wished that you had prepared some better lies before making the call.

            Still, Reigen nodded, clearly feigning like he believed every word you said.  It was almost impressive, actually.  “Those definitely seem like cat activities.  I don’t sense it here at the moment, though.” 

            _Damn._   “Yeah, I think it must’ve known you were coming back.”

            “It’s possible, I have a very strong psychic presence, after all.” 

            You gave him a skeptical look and he pretended not to notice.  “But I’m sure it’ll come back if we wait long enough-“

            Reigen cut you off.  “No need, if I sprinkle some salt around your apartment it should be enough to keep the spirit away for sure this time.”  He shot you a grin and pulled an enormous bag of salt from a pocket within his coat.  After a few minutes of sprinkling salt around randomly he called it good, took your money, and headed back out; reminding you to call him again if anything else came up.

            This was going to be more difficult than you thought.

            ***

            You waited a couple of weeks before calling for the third time, this time to complain about “moaning noises” coming from the floor below yours.  “It’s definitely a ghost,” you said, knowing full well that the moaning sounds were absolutely normal human noises.  “Do you think that maybe you could come check it out?”  Reigen agreed to come and pay a visit during the evening, which is when the noises typically started.  After you hung up you realized that if this scheme didn’t work you were going to run low on money very quickly.

            He showed up right on time (you could never fault him on punctuality, that was for sure) and the waiting game began.  You were certain that things were going to be awkward, and boy were you correct.  While you waited for the moaning noises to start you quickly ran out of small talk options.  “Weather’s been nice, huh?”  “Mhmm.”  “Do anything interesting lately?”  “Not really.  You?”  “Me either.”  You fidgeted in your seat, and for the first time ever you silently hoped that your downstairs neighbors would hurry up and start getting frisky already.  But as the minutes continued to tick by, absolutely nothing happened. 

            You cleared your throat.  “Are you hungry at all?  Thirsty?”

            Reigen jumped slightly in his seat.  He must’ve been zoning out.  “Oh huh?  Um-“

            “Do you want a snack?”  You had to bite your cheek to keep from grinning.  Catching him off guard was oddly satisfying.

            “A snack!  Yes, a snack would be great, if you don’t mind.”  His grin was forced.

            You nodded, this time stifling a laugh.  “Alright, I’ll be right back.”  You padded into the kitchen, pulling open cabinets and wishing you’d had the forethought to ask what he wanted to eat.  _Oh well_.  If you brought a bunch of stuff out then surely there’d be something he’d enjoy.  You grabbed a couple of different snack bags and two bottles of water before making your way back to the main room.  Reigen was still sitting at the table, fingers drumming against the surface and he looked around.  “I wasn’t sure what you liked so I brought a bunch of stuff,” you announced, plopping the bags down on the table.  Reigen jumped again.  Was he more on edge than he usually let on? 

            He coughed into his fist.  “Thank you.” 

            “Mhmm.”

            The awkward silence was made slightly less awkward by the crunching noises, but only slightly.  Neither of you attempted to make any sort of conversation, it would’ve almost been more awkward at that point to try.  So after over an hour had passed you decided to give it up for the day.  “Sorry, normally the ghosts would’ve started making noises by now.”

            “Oh, it’s no problem.”  All traces of discomfort suddenly vanished from the man sitting in front of you and you began to feel a touch exasperated.  “Spirits can be highly unpredictable, so it’s not surprising that they decided to be quiet today.”

            “Still, I’m sorry for wasting your time,” you said, though you can’t say that you particularly felt any sort of guilt.  “How much do I owe you?”

            To your surprise, Reigen just shook his head.  “I won’t charge you for today, I didn’t even do anything other than eat your snacks.  You can worry about paying me once I actually take care of the ghosts.”

            So the two of you made a plan for him to come back the following evening, and the evening after, and the evening after that.  It turned out that your downstairs neighbors had been on vacation for a few days, but after the second attempt you found yourself not minding quite as much.  Once you and Reigen had gotten a little more comfortable around each other you discovered that he was fairly easy to talk to, even if a good chunk of what he said didn’t sound entirely true.  By the fourth evening you were actually starting to enjoy his company, and that was worrying.  Luckily, you didn’t have to dwell on the thought for too long, because your neighbors were clearly going at it before Reigen even knocked on your door.  Now that it was finally happening, you were beginning to have some regrets.

            Your face was already turning red when you opened the door, and Reigen’s face didn’t look much better, though you could tell that he was trying to pretend like he didn’t know exactly what was going on.  “The uh… the ghosts are back,” you said, knowing that there was no way he actually believed that _you_ actually believed that the obscene noises were coming from ghosts.

            “I can hear it,” he said, still keeping his face straight.  “No wonder you were feeling so bothered by them.” 

            You kind of wanted to curl up on the floorboards and try to disappear.  “Yeah, they’re really bothersome.”

            “Luckily for you,” Reigen continued, “I have just the solution to the problem.”  There was no way he was going to propose an exorcism, you knew that much.  So then what?  You looked at him curiously and he gave you a smile that actually felt genuine.  Wordlessly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of pairs of disposable earplugs, the kind that you could find just about anywhere.  “Sound distorters that are proven to lessen the noise that evil spirits make.  Guaranteed to help or your money back!” 

            He was still continuing with his charade even though he had to know that you didn’t believe a single word he said.  This time, you were completely unable to stop the laughter from bubbling up in your throat.  “Sound distorters, huh?” you asked as you took the earplugs from him.  “Sounds really scientific.  How much?”

            Reigen ran a hand through his hair.  “How about this?  For you, I’ll give you a regular customer discount.”

            ***

            After the downstairs neighbors incident you stopped trying so hard to expose Reigen, though you continued making up dumb excuses to see him.  You were loathe to admit it, but you’d realized that you genuinely enjoyed spending time around him.  Plus, it didn’t seem like he was such a bad guy.  As far as you could tell he was actually helping all of his clients, even if he tended to stretch the truth a lot.  Sometimes you asked him to check out a strange noise in the apartment (more often than not it was just the dishwasher needing repairs again), other times you went in because a spirit had cursed your shoulders.  During one of these cursed shoulder occasions you had to break it to him that you weren’t going to be able recruit his psychic assistance for awhile.

            “Why’s that?” he asked, still focused on working a knot out of your shoulder.  It felt heavenly. 

            “I’m kinda running low on money,” you admitted.  “So I’ll just have to deal with my ghost problems on my own for awhile.”

            “That won’t do,” he tsked.  “I can’t leave one of my best customers to fend for themselves, can I?”  His hands suddenly felt sweaty.

            “Well there’s not much I can do,” you replied.

            The two of you were quiet for a bit, though it wasn’t awkward like those first silences had been.  After he finished up rubbing your shoulders and you pulled out your wallet to pay, he held up his hand to stop you.

            “I uh, have an idea, actually.”  Reigen’s face was paler than you’d ever seen it before.  Somehow sweatier, too.  “You can pay me by keeping me company?”

            It felt like your heart stopped.  Was he asking what you thought he was asking?  You floundered for something to say, and in those brief moments Reigen started speaking again, a look of utter horror on his face.

            “I MEAN- Not like that!  I’m not even really interested in stuff like that!”  His arms were flailing around in his panic, but you felt yourself calm down a little bit.  “I was just thinking we could go eat or something!  That’s all!” 

            You felt your anxiety begin to melt away, and you let out a breathy laugh.  And at your reaction, you saw Reigen relax a little too.  “You know, if you would’ve told me I could pay you by taking you out to dinner, I would’ve accepted that bargain ages ago.”

            Reigen’s face brightened up, though he was still a sweaty mess.  “Oh- yeah?  Well that’s… that’s great!”

            You laughed again.  “But before that, maybe you should go clean up a little bit?”

            He winced.  “Yeah, maybe I should.”


End file.
